Blue Bulls beat Griquas in high-scoring thriller

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Kimberley - Griquas fought from the beginning to the end and made the Blue Bulls think, but the visitors eventually won 51-45 in
Kimberley.

The hosts were competitive throughout the first half, but the Bulls
took a six point lead by the break at 26-20 having scored four tries and
converted three. Griquas scored two converted tries and two penalties
in the half with André Swarts successfully kicking everything.

The Blue Bulls opened the scoring with a try from Abongile
Nonkontwana but the Griquas quickly responded with a try from Ederies
Arendse. Piet van Zyl, who had a good game overall, scored next as he
leapt over a few tackled players to ground the ball over the line.

Warrick Gelant gave away a penalty and the Bulls made a few handling
errors as Griquas took the lead. The most damaging of these errors was a
pass that was quickly intercepted by Enver Brandt, who raced past
everyone to score the next try for the Griquas. The conversion and a
penalty goal from Swarts pushed the Griquas' lead to eight points.

The Blue Bulls then played disciplined rugby for the rest of the
half, with Jaco Visagie and Duncan Matthews scoring two brilliant tries
and Tinus de Beer converting them.

The second half started with Griquas quickly taking back the lead in
the game with a penalty goal from Swarts and a long range try from
Christiaan Meyer. The Bulls were punished for their loose passes first
by Brandt in the first half and then by Meyer in the second, both
scoring tries.

The defining moment in the game was when the Griquas captain was
shown a yellow card. AJ Coertzen was sent to the sin bin for cynical
play and the Bulls made the most of this chance. They increased the pace
of the game and scored a penalty and two tries while the Griquas were a
player short. Gelant scored the first try during this period and Andre
Warner scored the second. Warner’s try was one of the highlights of the
game as the Bulls ran nice angles and at good pace before Warner cut
inside Travis Ismaiel to score.

Griquas fought their way back with two important tries and the Blue
Bulls looked like they were under pressure. Brandt’s second try of the
night was just as spectacular as the first one. He received the pass on
the wing and accelerated past the Bulls defence to go all the way. The
Griquas were in the lead, but Ismaiel’s try ensured that the Bulls took
their lead back and they went on to win the game.

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